2. #TargetXSummit
● Message Content
○ Identifying Purpose
○ Best Practices
○ Cultivating Conversation
● Communication Planning
○ Using the correct tool for the job
○ Manage conversations vs marketing
4. ● Who Are We?
● Voice and Tone
○ Voice = Consistency through all messaging
○ Tone = Varies depending on message
● What’s the goal of our marketing?
○ Enrollment? “Fit Finding”? General excitement? Informational?
If we think about a formal voice, for example, your tone could be anywhere from
highly academic (longer, more complex sentences), to direct or terse (simple
sentences with strong, plain language).
6. ● Email
○ Transactional, Formal, Notification
○ Transactional, Formal, Call to Action
○ Informational, Informal, Brand Building
○ Conversational, Information, Call to Action
Feeling overwhelmed yet?!
7. ● Inverted Pyramid
○ Most → least importance
○ Eye-Catching images and
other visuals (buttons, gifs)
○ Remember: Short Attention
Spans
- Adults attention span is like a goldfish: Easy come, easy go. Design your email
messages (w/Builder) to follow the inverted pyramid, so that their eyes are
drawn effortlessly from top to bottom
8. ● Personalize Strategically
○ REAL person-to-person
messages
○ What data matters?
○ Merge fields? Conditional
content? Use them!
- Don’t turn your student’s inbox into a wasteland of garbage ads. Think about
yourself - do you have a folder where you send all advertising? Gmail does
this for us too!
- To avoid this, leverage the data in your CRM - how can you find miniscule
cross-sections of your prospects or applicants? A push to complete for people
who are 97% complete who have a legacy connection to your institution? An
anti-melt push to deposited students who are majoring in math from a
particular south dakota county (history shows they’re more likely to not
enroll!)?
- TargetX makes it simple to personalize your messages in a way that doesn’t
feel fake with conditional content and merge fields.
9. ● Opt-In ONLY
○ FCC says that providing a phone number can be an opt-in
● Less is More
○ Character limits are A Thing. Respect them.
● Time-Sensitive Info
○ Deadlines, Event Reminders
● Actionable Alerts
○ We need X, submit it at Y
- Opt in: Consider “legal” opting in v.s. “REALLY” opting in. Be considerate
(think about how it feels to get unwanted texts from political campaigns,
retailers, etc). These next steps will help with that
- More Resources:
https://www.twilio.com/learn/call-and-text-marketing/best-practices-text-sms-m
arketing and
https://www.admithub.com/blog/update-legality-of-text-messaging/
10. ● Consider e-versions
● Embrace The New
● Track your ROI
○ Drive student action
○ Gather information
- #collegemail
- Figure out what you want from the student - event registration, FA form, etc, -
and then figure out how to track this in your CRM. i.e QR code to unique form
etc
11. ● The good
○ Great for general information
○ “Fit finding”
○ Allows staggered communication to be automated
● The bad
○ Can feel overwhelming for the recipient (depending on stage)
○ Internal confusion
● The ugly
○ Complex maintenance
○ Is this replacing human relationships?
- Use email groups to streamline your distribution:
https://targetxcrm.force.com/usercommunity/s/article/How-to-Manage-Email-Opt-In-Groups
12. ● We are conversing WITH students not AT them
● “What is being sent today?” → “Who are we actively
communicating with today?”
○ Outbound AND Inbound
● Fluid (Conversations) vs Scheduled (Marketing)
○ Relationship Building vs Brand Building
How do I know what is being sent on a particular day? Scheduled marketing
messages are much easier to predict. But the CONVERSATIONS that are happening
are going to build the relationships with students. This is going to vary based on when
students enter the pipeline and what actions they have taken. It is better to be
responsive to students to begin conversations over sticking to a strick schedule
13. ● Which tool is the best?
● How do we know what has been sent and scheduled?
● Messages may be tracked in the CRM
○ But do they NEED to be?
-Several communication tools? How do I choose which one?
Tracking vs Reporting “Tracking” for our purposes today will be used to state that
message is locatable from the Contact record in the CRM, allowing users (counselors,
recruiters, & advisors) to easily view the message and when it was sent.
Reporting is separate from tracking, specifically applying to be able to build a
salesforce report on the data.
Are you tracking this because it has always been done. Does this impact how a
counselor/recruiter/advisor? Do we need to report on this communication for
accreditation purposes (financial aid)?
14. ● Preferred communication type for most students
● Multiple pathways for emails to be sent from CRM
1. TargetX Email
2. Salesforce Email 1:1
3. Salesforce Automated Emails (ie. workflow emails)
15. ● Life Cycle messages → Drip Campaigns
○ Drip Campaign built via Query, be sure to include additional attributes
● Specially Timed Messages → Event Invitations, Call to
Action
● Merge Fields/Conditional Content → Personalize
● Mobile
Drip Campaigns should be utilized to send only messages that truly matter and
include attribute to ensure students still qualify for those messages
-Drip Campaign Timelines - Fluid Communications
Call to Action = App Deadline/Scholarship Deadline - just be sure the message
applies directly to your recipients
Gen Z = personalization and mobile area must.
https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2019/02/5-ways-gen-z-is-cha
nging-the-marketing-industry/
https://sendgrid.com/blog/how-to-capitalize-on-genz-email-behavior/
https://www.targetx.com/blog/is-email-dead-or-did-college-admissions-kill-it/
16. ● Immediate acknowledgement
○ Event Follow Up
○ Application Submission
○ Inquiry Submission
Can still send branded templates with merge fields
Students expect an immediate notification for certain actions taken, so these are
important to have setup.
17. ● TargetX Email - Stored in TX Servers and Viewable in
your CRM
○ TX Roadmap → Email Dashboard
● Salesforce Email 1:1 - Viewable in Activity History
● Salesforce Automated emails (ie. Salesforce Workflow
email) - Not viewable on a record
Message is going to drive communication type, but setup and tracking are going to
drive which tool to use.
Remember Tracking vs Reporting and what is necessary. Transactional messages
do not require tracking/reporting. Marketing messages rarely require reporting.
Official communications (acceptance letters, financial aid documents) are usually the
only communications that require reporting.
To report on email: https://targetxcrm.force.com/usercommunity/s/article/How-to-report-on-Email
18. ● TargetX SMS - Viewable from the Contact Record
○ 1:1 Conversations
○ TX Roadmap → Coming soon...Bulk SMS!!
● Bulk SMS - 3rd Party SMS Tools (ex. SMS Magic)
○ Transactional (ex. Event Reminders)
● Opt Outs
TargetX SMS and SMS Magic are stored in separate objects
SMS - short and sweet. SMS messages should never be used to build your brand.
SMS is strictly transactional/conversational. Intrusive so should be kept to only
important messages. Overuse of SMS will result in your messages having
notifications turned off.
Opt Out rules - FCC rules regulate opt out just like they regular opt in. Transactional
messages are separate from marketing opt outs. Consider asking on an event form
if the student would like to receive a text reminder for this particular event, then utilize
that field in a report.
19. ● Conga
○ TX Roadmap → TX Print Tool Coming Soon!
● Mailhouse
● Deliver “Print” mail electronically
○ Display Decision Letters to student in
Application Dashboard
○ Portal
20. ● Multiple ways to track
○ Activity History
○ Specific field updates
● TX Decision Letters have “Viewed” Date
21. Prepare for responses to keep the conversation going
● Print > Slow response time expected
● Email > Medium response time expected
● SMS > Immediate response time expected
○ Limit bulk SMS
22. ● Email Dashboard
● TargetX Print Mail
● Bulk SMS
● ...and more
● Stop by and visit with our Product team to learn about
the TargetX Roadmap and provide input!
23. ● Is Email Dead - or Did College Admissions Kill It? Hayley
Wolf, TargetX - Day 2
● Rethinking Communication Flows in Rolling Admissions
Amanda Courtney, TargetX & Paula Nuckles, Monmouth
College - Day 2
24. ● Understand your institution’s purpose and how you want
to talk about yourself
● Put yourself in your students’ shoes
● Prepare for the future now; don’t get stuck following
outdated marketing rules
25. Nicole Shannon
Premier Services Specialist
nicole.shannon@targetx.com
Leah Ackerman
Manager of Training Initiatives
leah.ackerman@targetx.com